Four people, including three metro Atlantans, were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for stealing more than $4 million from the corporate bank accounts.
From 2012 to 2014, the fraud scheme targeted more than 150 accounts at Bank of America, with many belonging to small businesses, U.S. Attorney John Horn said.
Alwin Peterson, Jr, 38, of Fayetteville, Allen Parham, 46, of Atlanta, Vivienne Bloch, 54, of Decatur, and Kori Henegar, 35, of Spring, Texas, were convicted of bank fraud conspiracy after pleading guilty.
Peterson, who led the scheme, according to Horn, collected personal information about the individuals listed on the accounts and impersonated them in calls to the bank’s customer service representatives. During the calls he obtained additional account information, monitored account balances and learned about the latest transactions on existing accounts. He also changed the online banking passwords for some accounts so he could access them by computer.
Peterson employed “runners” - Parham, Bloch and Henegar - who went to bank branches and withdrew money from the accounts, Horn said. Using fake identifications, they posed as the real account holders and wired money from the business accounts to other accounts Peterson had opened. Peterson also used counterfeit checks to steal money from the accounts, prosecutors said.
“Their criminal actions damaged not only the small businesses they targeted, but also the employees and vendors who depended on timely payments to meet their day-to-day needs,” Horn said.
Peterson was sentenced to 12 years, one month in prison and ordered to pay $1,019,381.40 in restitution.
Parham was sentenced to six years, six months in prison and ordered to pay $85,414.11 in restitution.
Bloch was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $538,383.50.
Henegar was sentenced to two years, nine months in prison and ordered to pay $395,583.87.
About the Author
